[2Slow2Timid]

lol, Wow, That is kinda funny. We all predicted high gas prices and now they are gradually going down. Well, at least it's a improvement!

[tripleblack]

The low $5 mark was the high tide this year, looks like.

If the Democrats win the election, watch for the price to spike upwards almost immediately.

Market forces account for only about 15% of the price of oil now. OPEC sets the minimum they will accept (currently about $80-85, vs production costs of $4-$22), and politics does the rest.

Speculation in the open market FOLLOWS the political lead, although yes, it also pays close attention to OPEC and the narrow band of market force change (referencing growth in demand, ie China and India, is all well and good, but their demand cycle for oil only goes up a few percentage points per year - NOT the doubling we saw over the last year).

Efforts to produce oil OTHER THAN in the US last year jumped by 40%, worldwide - and all that exploration discovered immense new resources, including some large reserves the Brazilians are actively pursuing off their own coast line.

North America possesses some the potential to produce a lot of oil, and at $120 bbl LOTS of that oil is commercially viable, and then there's politics...